~ After 50 years, clearly gaming is lifelong

Kid Gaming

Children are fantastic. You never know what surprises are in store for you with them.

I came home from a business trip yesterday, and my 8-yr-old son tells me “Hey Dad – look at my house in Minecraft.” He hands me his itouch and I look around at his house. He’s made a nice little beachhouse with a roof, little chairs inside, two pools outside, and a garden planted around it. I was floored.

This is a kid who I’ve been trying to get immersed in things for some time – he’s the type of little guy who wants to try things once. He downloads a game, plays backgammon, runs and kicks a ball, and declares he’s done. But apparently, not Minecraft. This has been his thing to do with free time for perhaps two weeks (when I’m not saying “itouches down” that is).

He really seemed to get the idea of Minecraft after I told him “Basically, it’s just like Legos” and he’s been working on his house for over a week. It appears they may be getting closer to wanting to play Dad-style games someday, we can only hope.

I am really tired of playing Pet Shop Story with my 11-yr-old daughter, but she loves animals and I would do anything for her. Obviously. If I keep sending her cushions and blue hooks and whatever else she needs.

The real problem is my daughter is too smart now. She calls me out on being a hypocrite – “You won’t let us play lots of games but you do even more than we do!”. So far I can still play the Dad card but I’m worried about what happens in a few years.